Re: normal blood work

[Guest guest]

Hi there -

I was diagnosed with RA as " seronegative " , as well. My blood work was mostly

normal, with only my CP and Vitamin D being out of range. I have never had the

" ra factor " , but I luckily have a doctor who falls into the category of " new

rheumatology " and treats me as an RA patient, regardless of my blood work.

There are many doctors who come from this new school of thought and it may be

worth it to seek one out if you aren't getting the treatment you deserve just

because you are seronegative. Many of these MDs started medical school in the

mid-90's. I'm ABSOLUTELY not saying that other doctors would not be open to the

same treatments, but in my experience with RA docs and in talking with my

current one about this particular subject, I'm simply sharing collectively what

I've learned and experienced.

Good luck.

[Guest guest]

I have to agree....some people keep up with advances and changes in

their field, but many do not. Rheumatology has changed much in recent

years, and the more recently trained ones are more likely to be on

top of it all. I am shocked that some people here sound so much worse

with their RA than me but I am being treated more aggresively. That's

crazy! All my bloodwork is normal but my symptoms are not. Well, they

weren't. Several times my hands got so bad I couldn't write, and it

would take a week before I could write again. Along with many other

things, these were signs that the bloodwork isn't indicative of

disease activity in me - my doc's words. I am on methotrexate and am

responding even better than we hoped, there have been weeks when I

almost forget I have RA. I know there's no way to tell the future,

and I just assume that there will be flares in my future that aren't

controlled, but I think that the early aggressive treatment is my

best first line of defense in controlling this beast - now and later.

While RA is certainly different in every patient, I cannot help but

wonder if waiting to treat more aggressively the more aggresive

symptoms does not feed the disease.....not to mention the senseless

suffering. All I can say is that those who have choices regionally

and with their insurance options, keep trying until you find someone

who will work with you. Bloodwork is only one tool in diagnosis and

treatment planning, but it isn't the end-all. Any doc who thinks it

is, isn't on your side. I think seronegatives have a potentially much

harder battle.

Blessings,

--- In , Hartman <megan_hartman@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi there -

> I was diagnosed with RA as " seronegative " , as well. My blood work

was mostly normal, with only my CP and Vitamin D being out of range.

I have never had the " ra factor " , but I luckily have a doctor who

falls into the category of " new rheumatology " and treats me as an RA

patient, regardless of my blood work.

> There are many doctors who come from this new school of thought and

it may be worth it to seek one out if you aren't getting the

treatment you deserve just because you are seronegative. Many of

these MDs started medical school in the mid-90's. I'm ABSOLUTELY not

saying that other doctors would not be open to the same treatments,

but in my experience with RA docs and in talking with my current one

about this particular subject, I'm simply sharing collectively what

I've learned and experienced.

> Good luck.

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I think that this may very well be true. I think that the reason I am

doing so well now is that my rheumatologist treated my RA aggressively

from the beginning. I was not seronegative; my RF factor, SED rate, and

C-reactive protein were way on up there, and that might have been a

blessing in disguise.

Sue

On Thursday, June 5, 2008, at 01:17 PM, goodbead40 wrote:

> While RA is certainly different in every patient, I cannot help but

> wonder if waiting to treat more aggressively the more aggresive

> symptoms does not feed the disease.....not to mention the senseless

> suffering.

[Guest guest]

Sue, I agree with you. I was upset at first to have " bad " labs with high RF,

ESR, CRP, and antiCCP. Then I think it was someone on this board who said,

well, having definitive labs probably saved you the months or even years people

go w/o a firm diagnosis.

Re: [ ] Re: " normal " blood work

I think that this may very well be true. I think that the reason I am

doing so well now is that my rheumatologist treated my RA aggressively

from the beginning. I was not seronegative; my RF factor, SED rate, and

C-reactive protein were way on up there, and that might have been a

blessing in disguise.

Sue

On Thursday, June 5, 2008, at 01:17 PM, goodbead40 wrote:

> While RA is certainly different in every patient, I cannot help but

> wonder if waiting to treat more aggressively the more aggresive

> symptoms does not feed the disease..... not to mention the senseless

> suffering.

[Guest guest]

When my rheumy called me with the results of his tests, the bloodwork

was the bad news. The good news was that the x-rays of my hands showed

no damage. My present rheumy had my hands x-rayed a few months ago, and

they showed no signs of inflammatory arthritis.

I think that it was also a blessing in disguise that mtx caused my wbc

count to be too low, which meant that I was moved on to Enbrel. Enbrel

works so well for me, I call it my miracle drug.

Sue

On Friday, June 6, 2008, at 07:51 PM, Fair wrote:

> Sue, I agree with you. I was upset at first to have " bad " labs with

> high RF, ESR, CRP, and antiCCP. Then I think it was someone on this

> board who said, well, having definitive labs probably saved you the

> months or even years people go w/o a firm diagnosis.